Dimensions of Instructor Disclosure: Implications for Rhetorical and Relational Goals of Instruction

There are an array of reasons why instructors view personal disclosures as beneficial for the classroom, including to demonstrate caring and to make content relevant. Using the rhetorical and relational goals of instruction theory as the theoretical model, this study tested the potential for the three dimensions of disclosure (i.e., amount, negativity, relevance) to account for variance in instructor rhetorical goals (i.e., relevance) and relational goals (i.e., caring). The results highlight the importance of relevant instructor disclosures to perceiving an instructor as achieving rhetorical and relational goals within the classroom.

[1]  D. Lane,et al.  Examining communication privacy management in the middle school classroom: perceived gains and consequences , 2014 .

[2]  Stephen A. Sivo,et al.  The Relationship of Instructor Self-Disclosure, Nonverbal Immediacy, and Credibility to Student Incivility in the College Classroom , 2014 .

[3]  Paul Schrodt.  Content Relevance and Students' Comfort with Disclosure as Moderators of Instructor Disclosures and Credibility in the College Classroom , 2013 .

[4]  Angela M. Hosek,et al.  Communication Privacy Management and College Instruction: Exploring the Rules and Boundaries that Frame Instructor Private Disclosures , 2009 .

[5]  Alan K. Goodboy,et al.  The Relation Between Teacher Self-Disclosure and Student Motives to Communicate , 2009 .

[6]  Matthew M. Martin,et al.  Teacher Self-Disclosure: Amount, Relevance, and Negativity , 2008 .

[7]  Jason J. Teven.  Teacher Caring and Classroom Behavior: Relationships with Student Affect and Perceptions of Teacher Competence and Trustworthiness , 2007 .

[8]  Pamela J. Lannutti,et al.  Classroom Communication: The Influence of Instructor Self-disclosure on Student Evaluations , 2006 .

[9]  Matthew M. Martin,et al.  An instructor self‐disclosure scale , 2004 .

[10]  Jacob L. Cayanus.  Effective Instructional Practice: Using teacher self-disclosure as an instructional tool , 2004 .

[11]  Cheryl Tatano Beck.  HOW STUDENTS PERCEIVE FACULTY CARING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY , 1991, Nurse educator.

[12]  G. Sorensen.  The relationships among teachers' self‐disglosive statements, students' perceptions, and affective learning , 1989 .

[13]  Anthony M. Limperos,et al.  Students' Perceptions of Social Presence: Rhetorical and Relational Goals Across Three Mediated Instructional Designs , 2013 .

[14]  Judith A. Deiro.  Do Your Students Know You Care , 2003 .

[15]  den Pj Perry Brok,et al.  Teacher experience and the teacher-student relationship in the classroom environment , 2002 .

[16]  James C. McCroskey,et al.  The relationship of perceived teacher caring with student learning and teacher evaluation , 1997 .

[17]  Gary M. Shulman,et al.  “What's in it for me?”: Increasing content relevance to enhance students' motivation , 1995 .

[18]  Virginia P. Richmond,et al.  Power in the classroom VI: Verbal control strategies, nonverbal immediacy and affective learning , 1986 .